Danville rallies to win title
Danville‘s Lady Hawks captured championship honors in the varsity girl‘s division of the Morgan County Tournament on Saturday. Team members are Kaitlin Wallace, Morgan Doherty, Rochelle St. Amand, Kaylonio Cross, Celese Sharbutt, Sloan Lindsey, Haley Rae Garnett, Ashley Nance, Lacey Evans, Hannah McClung and Lindsay Simmons. | Clif Knight
Nobody in the gym would’ve given Danville Lady Hawks much of a chance to win in the girl’s varsity final against Brewer’s Lady Patriots after falling behind by 18 points midway in the third period. But they didn’t quit. Instead, they stepped up the tempo of their man defense, made some clutch lay ups out of their transition offense and came away with a shocking 50-48 victory.
The jubilation of the players was heard loud and clear by a standing room audience at West Morgan Gym as they celebrated their school’s first girl’s title in 19 years. And the hugging, shouting and shedding of happy tears followed in their dressing room.
Head Coach Paul Wilson and his assistant, Nick Cottrell, were caught up in the jubilation as well.
“I thought our press was the key to winning the game,” Wilson said. “It disrupted their offensive rhythm and we were able to make some big baskets off of steals and turnovers. Casey (Evans) helped us pick up the defensive tempo in the third quarter and helped us get our offense in sync. She’s a leader.”
Ashley Nance’s two free throws with 29 seconds left were key in the win. Danville attempted nine free throws and made only one up to that point.
The Lady Patriots came out strong and were in command after the first period with a 15-9 lead. They added seven points to their advantage in the second period, leading 30-17 and held their largest lead – 18 points, with 4:22 left in the third period.
A 3-pointer by Celese Sharbutt cut Brewer’s lead to three points, 43-40, with 5:39 left in the fourth period, a lay up by Kayloni Cross 17 seconds later put Danville to within a point, 43-42. Nance made a lay up with 4:38 left to put the Lady Hawks ahead, 44-43.
Nance led her team with 20 points and 14 rebounds and contributed to her being selected as winner of the Jane Nelson Fields MVP award, which was presented by Caleb Fields.
Sharbutt followed Nance in scoring with 10 points and in rebound with 6.
Evans had 7 points, 4 assists and three rebounds. Rochelle St. Amand scored 7 points and Lindsay Simmons had 6 points and 2 rebounds.
Brewer was paced by Riley Northway with 19 points. She was followed by Hannah Crawford with 8 and Cheyenne McLemore with 6.
Danville last won a varsity girls county championship in 1992. Brewer has 13 titles to its credit, the most recent being in 2009.
